


Where the Heart Is

by Petrichora_Vellichor



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Cuddling, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Human Castiel (Supernatural), M/M, post-season 14, the happy ending these two dorks deserve dammit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-26
Updated: 2019-04-26
Packaged: 2020-02-04 13:15:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18605257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Petrichora_Vellichor/pseuds/Petrichora_Vellichor
Summary: In which Dean and Cas finally get the soft epilogue they deserve.





	Where the Heart Is

Dean awoke with his nose buried in Cas’s hair. The other man had shifted during the night, rolling over in Dean’s arms so that the two of them now lay facing each other, Cas’s right arm draped loosely around Dean’s waist and their legs entangled beneath the sheets. He could feel Cas’s breath against his neck, soft and steady as the former angel slept, and he smiled, shifting his hold on Cas to pull him in just a little bit closer. 

Not a bad way to wake up your first morning in a new home, all things considered. 

It had been Sam who’d found the place, a cozy three-bedroom farmhouse just outside of town. There was an old barn that Dean already had plans to turn into a shop, a yard big enough for the dog Sam wanted to adopt, and a plot out back where Cas could plant the garden Dean knew he’d been dreaming of for ages. There was even a tire swing, a feature that had made Jack practically glow with happiness when he’d first set eyes on it. 

These days, the Nephilim split his time between renovating Heaven with Gabriel (“Eh, it’s the least I can do after the kid sprang me from the Goo place,” the archangel had said with a shrug. “Besides, I bet Crowley that I could fix Dad’s mess up there before he can get Hell back under wraps, and I can’t lose to a guy that sold his soul for an extra few inches of wang: that’d just be _embarrassing_.”) and taking classes at the local community college, which Jack insisted was important for his future. 

“I want to help people, so I need to learn as much as I can about as many different things as I can,” he’d said when informing his three dads of his decision. 

Sam in particular had been delighted, and he and Jack now spent most evenings pouring over Jack’s course readings, having animated scholarly debates that would have given Dean a headache if he hadn’t been too busy smiling.

In his arms, Cas stirred slightly without waking, mumbling something incoherent before curling back into Dean’s chest, peaceful once again. Dean’s thumb traced a slow circle against Cas’s back, and he did his best to ignore the little voice in his head that told him he didn’t deserve to have this. 

When Gabriel had told them that day at the bunker that, just as human souls could be used to make angels, angelic grace could be fashioned into human souls, Cas had immediately turned on his heel and walked out of the room, ignoring Sam and Dean’s inquiries as to where he was going. Dean had gone after him a minute later, nearly colliding with Cas as the latter exited the storage room, a small trickle of blood flowing from the neat cut on his neck and a shimmering glass bottle clutched tightly in his hand.

“It’s my choice,” Cas had said simply, and the sheer _genuineness_ of his expression had made Dean want to shout. “Jack is our family, and this is how we save him.”

“Yeah, and what happens to you?” Dean had demanded, stepping into Cas’s personal space with a glare. “You just give up your mojo, for good this time, and what? Embrace humanity and all its crap?”

“Humanity isn’t ‘crap’, Dean.” Cas was frowning even as he’d thrown the air quotes. “You’re the one who taught me its value. I rebelled for humanity because I fell in love with it.” He dropped his gaze for a moment, then raised it again, blue and brilliant and so goddamn _sure_ that it stole Dean’s breath away. “Because I fell in love with _you_. And there is nothing, not even my grace, that I would not give up gladly if it means keeping you and the rest of the people I love safe.” 

Dean had stared at him, stunned, and there was a part of him, one which he was long accustomed to obeying, that told him _no_ , that he had to fight Cas on this, had to _make_ him understand that humanity wasn’t worth it, that he, Dean Winchester, _wasn’t worth it_...but before that part of Dean could get its thoughts together, an even bigger part had him backing Cas up against the wall and kissing him with over ten year’s worth of repressed want and need. Cas had given as good as he got, hands coming up to grip the collar of Dean’s shirt and pulling him in, lips hot and desperate and every bit as incredible as they’d been in all the dreams that Dean had ever had about them. The two of them had barely made it down the hall to Dean’s room, where no sooner had Cas kicked the door shut than Dean was pulling him down onto the bed, clothes pinwheeling out in all directions like sparks thrown by the force of a collision millennia in the making.

_I love you._

_I love you._

_I can’t lose you._

_You won’t._

Their words, those and the countless others they’d panted into each other’s mouths that first time they were together, came back to Dean now, sweeping up the little voice that told him he didn’t deserve this and bearing it away like a pebble in the tide, because Dean knew in his heart that the bond, the _love_ between him and Cas, it wasn’t a question of _choosing_ , it wasn’t a question of _deserving_ , it wasn’t even anything either of them could _help_. It just _was_ , a simple, undeniable, universal truth in a tale otherwise full of lies. It always had been, and it always would be. They’d been hurtling unknowingly toward one another before either one ever realized they were falling; that they'd somehow managed to land together, alive and happy and whole, felt equal parts miracle and foregone conclusion. Of all the possible ways in all the possible universes that his story could have ended or had yet to end, Dean felt certain that none of them, not a single one, could possibly make him any happier than the one in which he was living, here, now, with Cas asleep in his arms, their family safe, and the entire rest of their lives ahead of them. 

“This is what you gave me,” Dean whispered, his lips brushing against Cas’s forehead in a soft kiss. He closed his eyes, settling his head back down on the pillow and breathing in the familiar scent of Cas’s hair. “And now...now I’m gonna give you everything.”

And so he did.

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr version of this story, if you enjoyed it and feel like sharing. :) [Where the Heart Is](https://petrichoravellichor.tumblr.com/post/184453750057/could-you-do-a-ficlet-of-dean-and-cas-after)
> 
> Kudos and/or comments are also greatly appreciated!


End file.
